Quoting:
I have never "got" alternative music, and I still don't and probably never will.  Back in the early '90s, when Nirvana and Pearl Jam broke through, I was like "wtf!? are they playing on the radio?".   ???

I am still that way with today's alternative bands.  They all sound the same to me.  I suspect alternative music is what polarized everyone else who loved the '80s.

Could someone please explain the appeal of alternative music to me?  

Thank you
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It depends what you mean by "alternative." For me, the alternative is better than the mainstream stuff (either because it is overplayed to death or because there isn't that much innovation in the styles). Example: for a while Fluff Rock/Cheez Metal dominated the airwaves in the mid-late 80s, the alternative for me was to listen to Indie, Punk, Goth, and Electronic bands and artists. The appeal of alternative music is that it is different from what is being played on the radio (most of it was and still is crap). You have the choice of listening to boy bands, Cheez Metal, Country, Puke Pop, et al., but you also have an alternative if that doesn't satisfy your listening needs.

Now if you mean to call "alternative" that which was also called Grunge Rock (it came from Seattle, right?), then I guess these bands began as the alternative to something like, say, Motley Crew and Poison (a.k.a. Cheez Metal), but then these bands became THE mainstream music for a while and, in a way, ceased to become the alternative (just plain Grunge Rock). I thought some of it was good while others rested on the laurels of being called a Grunge band. The appeal of Grunge Rock is the style and themes explored in the music. When you heard Pearl Jam on the radio, you did have a reaction (albeit a bad one, but a reaction nonetheless) which is one of the principles of being alternative. This wasn't something you've heard before or else it was tweaked and re-worked so much it got a reaction out of you - was it the same when you heard Winger, Ratt, or Slaughter? Probably not.

The Nu Wave Conformist

Quoting:
Queens of the Stone Age is a good band that should blow up. End Quote

Queens Of The Stone Age rock
you know any band with Dave in it is gonna blow up


Jim Morrison is your god

Quoting:
I have never "got" alternative music, and I still don't and probably never will.  Back in the early '90s, when Nirvana and Pearl Jam broke through, I was like "wtf!? are they playing on the radio?".   ???

I am still that way with today's alternative bands.  They all sound the same to me.  I suspect alternative music is what polarized everyone else who loved the '80s.

Could someone please explain the appeal of alternative music to me?  

Thank you
End Quote

That is simply because you are dumb and don't respect musical genius's or legends such as Kurt Cobain you are  disrespectful to a man that changed the music industry and world you are too dumb too know what the lyrics mean,you simply have no real taste in music Kurt's lyrics are great leave him and Nirvana alone they were great and Nelly or Eminem isn't so get real taste in music stupid teenybopper.

Quoting:
What I never cared for about "alternative" is that everyone started relabeling 80s bands with some form of "alternative" term. Bands like The Cure, U2, Depeche Mode which were already huge by the early 90s were suddenly "alternative." Give me a break.
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Therefore, "alternative" isn't really a category/genre of music per se, but more like the dictionary definition of it. It would be best to use Indie, Pop Rock, Rock, Grunge, Arena Rock, Metal, Hair, Glam, Goth, Punk, New Wave, EBM, or something other than alternative...

The Nu Wave Conformist

Quoting:

That is simply because you are dumb and don't respect musical genius's or legends such as Kurt Cobain you are  disrespectful to a man that changed the music industry and world you are too dumb too know what the lyrics mean,you simply have no real taste in music Kurt's lyrics are great leave him and Nirvana alone they were great and Nelly or Eminem isn't so get real taste in music stupid teenybopper.
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Troll...troll...TROLL!...TROLL-y, troll-y, troll-y, troll-y...

:) Trolls suck! :)



Sorry, the troll looked hungry, and you just don't let a troll completely starve... ;)

Quoting:
What I don't "get" is Rap and Nu-Metal   ???  WTF is that.   ;)
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Quoting:

That is simply because you are dumb and don't respect musical genius's or legends such as Kurt Cobain you are  disrespectful to a man that changed the music industry and world you are too dumb too know what the lyrics mean,you simply have no real taste in music Kurt's lyrics are great leave him and Nirvana alone they were great and Nelly or Eminem isn't so get real taste in music stupid teenybopper.
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it's rude to call people dumb and stupid because of a difference of opinion.  it's also rude to assume a person is a teenybopper just because he or she doesn't like the same music you do.  i really think you should click on the forum rules link and take a good, long look at it.  


as for the topic at hand, my definition alternative music is anything that isn't on the mainstream music charts.  for the most part, i really can't stand the music on mainstream charts, and therefore i choose to listen to an alternative.  i don't really consider it a type of music because my alternatives consist of indie, classic rock, a little punk, grunge, orchestral, musicals, etc.  alternative doesn't mean that it's not popular or rarely listened to.  i believe an 'alternative' artist or group can be can be popular without being mainstream.  for example, i think of sponge as a fairly popular band, but i wouldn't consider them to be a mainstream band and are alternative as per my aforementioned definition.  that's my take on alternative music.  and i don't think anyone is dumb or stupid because they don't like or get a particular type of music.

panda:D :D :D

Quoting:
My take on alternative is that it is music that doesen't fit into a certain category: Rock, Pop, Country, etc. I may be wrong, but that is how I see it.
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Me too !

My problem is that there seems to be a new category every flippin' week..... ::)

Quoting:

musical genius's or legends such as Kurt Cobain you are  disrespectful to a man that changed the music industry and world .
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Should we respect someone who took his own life?  I think Kurt Cobain was a coward.  If he hadn't of got lucky with tean spirit, pearl jam would have came into the mainstreem a few months latter and Edie vedder would be credited as a genius.  Bands such as Alice in Chains were doing the sound prior to Nirvana, but do they get any credit?

PS: If he made such a lasting change to the music industry why is it worse today then it ever has been?

Quoting:


Should we respect someone who took his own life?  I think Kurt Cobain was a coward.  If he hadn't of got lucky with tean spirit, pearl jam would have came into the mainstreem a few months latter and Edie vedder would be credited as a genius.  Bands such as Alice in Chains were doing the sound prior to Nirvana, but do they get any credit?

PS: If he made such a lasting change to the music industry why is it worse today then it ever has been?
End Quote

I always felt the same way about Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.  If he didn't blow his brains out, then there would be no mystique surrounding him and the band Nirvana.  If there was no suicide then I'm positive Nirvana would have simply faded from the radar the way Pearl Jam has.  And in the end, Pearl Jam was a better band then Nirvana anyway.

KC and Nirvana were overrated.    

Quoting:
 And in the end, Pearl Jam was a better band then Nirvana anyway.

KC and Nirvana were overrated.    
End Quote

I have to disagree. IMO, I think Nirvana was a better band...but that's just my opinion...

Quoting:If there was no suicide then I'm positive Nirvana would have simply faded from the radar the way Pearl Jam has.  End Quote

Maybe Nirvana would, but look at the Foo Fighters...